How Influencer Marketing Can Help Your Brand Get Ahead In The Fashion Retail Industry

You have the finest designs in fashion retail, and believe your brand is capable of becoming the next “It girl” store. But if no one knows about your small boutique or online store, then what’s the point? Social media’s popularity has increased rapidly over the years. It has 4.2 billion users, amounting to over 50% of the population. Marketing your store online has become extremely crucial in order to go from zero to 100. However, you have to remember, it isn't realistic to think your store will blow up overnight. As you may have noticed, the social media algorithm has worked in many different ways. Realistically it does take time and effort to get your store a big following and you cannot just expect instant popularity. Nonetheless, by following these strategies, and having patience, you will learn how influencers can help you succeed in the fashion retail industry.

Influencers Create Trends - A great deal of people look to many social platforms (Instagram and TikTok in specific) for inspiration when choosing their outfits whether they are going out, going shopping, going to get the groceries or even just having a chill night in. The hashtag #OOTD “Outfit Of The Day” has millions of views for a purpose. Influencers on Instagram and Tiktok use this hashtag to show off their favorite fashion styles at the moment, and soon their followers start buying these outfits to style them in their own way. They create trends, and people want to be a part of this. If you want to be successful in the fashion retail industry, the clothes you sell should be in line with the current trends and fit the “Niche” you are looking for. 

To put it simply, you would be gaining so much exposure, you’ll have more traffic towards your store and also be creating demand for your product, which increases sales. This is the indicator of success in fashion retail. 

Finding your Niche - Going back to when I briefly mentioned finding your Niche, let's get into more detail about how. For starters a Niche is basically a small group of the market for a specific demographic, product type, particular price point, and a certain quality. Basically, a place where there is high demand and low supply. This is where you want to find what makes your shop stand out from the thousands of brands that are almost an exact replica of yours. Finding your target audience is a great first step. For example, Some brands might want a specific target audience of women, age ranging from high school - college students, highly active on social media, share common interests that relate to their shop, and speak english. Below I included a graph from the article “Target audience: a key factor for business” on Tap link written by Kos Morris, Head of Content managers. 

To learn more about reaching your target audience and discovering more on your personal Niche, I highly suggest you give the “Target audience: a key factor for business” article Linked a good read!

Diagram from “Target audience: a key factor for business” on Tap link written by Kos Morris, Head of Content managers. 

After you understand these points, what do you do next? Below are some ways ecommerce stores Are using influencer marketing! 

1.Promote your store. 

Promoting an online store is probably the most common and most useful way that ecommerce brands can use influencer marketing. When influencers are talking about or promoting your brand and products, it’s easy for them to provide a link to your store website. In fact, they can add a link directly to your page, which means potential customers are less likely to get lost along the way.

PRO TIP: Create a code or provide influencers with specific links to your page. This way, you’ll be able to track and see the ROI of your influencer campaigns, ex: GIANNA15 (usually provide the name of the influencer and the percentage the code gives off! this makes it super simple for customers to use and easy for you to track)

2.Offer a promotion with an influencer. 

Offering a discount when you’re working with an influencer is such a great way to increase your sales and ROI on the campaign. First of all, like I mentioned above, having a discount code specifically for that influencer will allow you to track their sucsess in marketing. Beyond that, many people will strongly consider making a purchase if they can save some money while doing it. Sometimes that can be the tipping point that really inspires someone to click through to your shop and make the purchase. As well as a base rate, you can negotiate with the influencer to offer them a percentage of each sale made with their code. This can encourage them to be thorough when creating their campaign.

3.Work with micro-influencers. 

Working with micro influencers is definitely the way to go. It was proven that 92 percent of customers trust a micro-influencer more than a traditional ad or an endorsement from celebs. No surprise: consumers are more likely to buy from someone they know and trust. So if a micro-influencer whom they follow recommends something, they'll trust this recommendation more than a direct ad from a brand. Some Pros of Working With Micro-Influencers include : Higher Engagement, Lower Cost, Covers a Huge Range of Niches (which I discussed above!) and They Can Appear More Authentic.

4.Things to remember when working with a micro influencer

I highlighted some of the key factors to focus on while working with a micro influencer. Make Sure You Share the Same Audience. If you don’t do your research, you’ll soon find that the influencer you had your eye on wouldn’t be the best fit because their audience and yours aren’t the same. This all circles back to talking about your brands “niche”. If you send PR to someone who promotes fashion but your brand is haircare brand, it is most likely not a good fit. Form a Connection. The last thing you want is to work with someone who isn’t passionate about what they’re promoting or doesn’t understand your industry. When you reach out, make sure there’s a genuine connection between your brand and the influencer. If they are showing you they only are in it for the free product, do NOT work with them. Give Them Some Creative Freedom. If you give them a strict script they have to follow, it won’t come across as genuine. You want the micro-influencer you work with to be excited about your product and you want them to talk to their audience about it naturally. So, let them do their thing. Giving them creative freedom will make it more authentic.

5.Micro Influencers are Cost Effective.

Connecting to what was said in #3, working with micro influencers is extremely beneficial while also saving tons of money. They normally charge about $100-$300 per post or will settle with just getting a PR box sent to them for free. This is an excellent price point for the broad value and high-quality content they provide. Comparing this to A list influencers who cost thousands of dollars for a single Instagram story, it is a pretty sweet deal. They’re perfect partners for both brands looking to get into influencer marketing and brands who want to build a huge influencer marketing program. Their small costs also makes it easily accessible for brands to afford more than one influencer at a time!